


Long Gone and Moved On

by compos_dementis



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, F/M, M/M, Sherlock is a woobie, post-Reichenbach Fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 12:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/585217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/compos_dementis/pseuds/compos_dementis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You cannot imagine what living without you was like."<br/>"But I can."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Gone and Moved On

"You cannot imagine what living without you was like," John says, half in anger and half in despair, because he's thinking about those three years he spent wanting to believe it wasn't true. The years sitting alone by the fire on Christmas, the late night phone calls with Harry as he dreamed, again and again, of Sherlock plummeting toward the pavement. He holds onto Sherlock tighter in disbelief and frustration, pulls him closer toward him.

"But I can," Sherlock whispers, and his voice is hoarse, and when John looks, Sherlock is crying. Those three words make him realize that John, at least, had a sense of closure. He'd gotten the chance to go through the grieving process and to try to move on. He'd met Mary, who had been kind and had helped him through his grief; had sat beside him on picnics in front of Sherlock's grave, had helped him clean the headstone of graffiti. John had gotten to accept that Sherlock was dead, and had gotten to take his life in another direction.

Sherlock hadn't gotten that opportunity. Sherlock had been in Paris, in Calcutta, in New York, all over the globe trying to bring down the ghost of James Moriarty, all with the intent of coming back home. And John had... what? Given up. Gotten married. All while Sherlock was fighting to earn his place back at Baker Street, to earn John's forgiveness. And he had it. He always had John's forgiveness, he always had his place at John's side. He was irreplaceable. But John couldn't wait for him forever. He had a life to think about.

"I'm sorry," comes Sherlock's voice again, tense and thick with tears, and John lifts his head by the chin, wiping the tear tracks away with his thumbs. Sherlock is trembling, thin, scared. Unlike he's ever seen him before. "I'm so sorry I took so very long."

"Hey." John pulls him in again, and embraces him properly this time. "We'll figure this out, Sherlock, I- I promise. Together." His arms wrap around him, tucking Sherlock's head into the crook of his head, and the other man weeps openly now. 

John has moved on, yes. Found someone else, tried to repair the broken remnants of his own heart. But now it was time to repair the broken remnants of Sherlock's.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for purpleandorangesheep's fanart on a whim. You can find and reblog both the fanart and the ficlet here: http://compos-dementis.tumblr.com/post/37348212723/purpleandorangesheep-you-cannot-imagine-what


End file.
